Section 5

Upon the recovery of an amount receivable, the accounting officer shall make an entry in the accounts and shall inform the authorising officer responsible. A receipt shall be issued in respect of any cash payments made to the accounting officer or imprest administrator. Partial reimbursement by a debtor subject to several recovery orders shall first be posted on the oldest entitlement unless otherwise specified by the debtor. Any partial payments shall first cover the interest. Where the debtor has a claim on the Union that is certain as defined in point (a) of Article 81, of a fixed amount and due, relating to a sum established by a payment order, the accounting officer shall, following the deadline referred to in Article 80(3)(b) recover established amounts receivable by offsetting. In exceptional circumstances, where it is necessary to safeguard the financial interests of the Union, when the accounting officer has justified grounds to believe that the amount due to the Union would be lost, the accounting officer shall recover by offsetting before the deadline referred to in Article 80(3)(b). The accounting officer shall also recover by offsetting before the deadline referred to in Article 80(3)(b) when the debtor agrees. Before proceeding with any recovery in accordance with paragraph 1, the accounting officer shall consult the authorising officer responsible and inform the debtors concerned. Where the debtor is a national authority or one of its administrative entities, the accounting officer shall also inform the Member State concerned at least 10 working days in advance of his intention to resort to recovery by offsetting. However, in agreement with the Member State or administrative entity concerned, the accounting officer may proceed with the recovery by offsetting before the deadline has passed. The offsetting referred to in paragraph 1 shall have the same effect as a payment and discharge the Union for the amount of the debt and, where appropriate of the interest due. Without prejudice to Article 87, if the full amount has not been recovered by the deadline referred to in Article 80(3)(b) and specified in the debit note, the accounting officer shall inform the authorising officer responsible and shall without delay launch the procedure for effecting recovery by any means offered by the law, including, where appropriate, by enforcement of any guarantee lodged in advance. Without prejudice to Article 87, where the recovery method referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article cannot be used and the debtor has failed to pay in response to the letter of formal notice sent by the accounting officer, the accounting officer shall enforce a recovery decision secured either in accordance with Article 79(2) of the Financial Regulation or by legal action. The accounting officer, in collaboration with the authorising officer responsible, may allow additional time for payment only at the written request of the debtor, with due indication of the reasons, and provided that the following two conditions are fulfilled: the debtor undertakes to pay interest at the rate specified in Article 83 for the entire additional period allowed, starting from the deadline referred to in Article 80(3)(b); in order to safeguard the rights of the Union, the debtor lodges a financial guarantee covering the debt outstanding in both the principal sum and the interest, which is accepted by the institution’s accounting officer. The guarantee referred to in point (b) of the first paragraph may be replaced by a joint and several guarantee by a third party approved by the institution’s accounting officer. In exceptional circumstances, following a request by the debtor, the accounting officer may waive the requirement of a guarantee referred to in point (b) of the first paragraph when, on the basis of his assessment, the debtor is willing and able to make the payment in the additional time period but is not able to lodge such guarantee and is in a distressed situation. Where an action is brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union against a Commission decision imposing a fine or other penalties under the TFEU or Euratom Treaty and until such time as all legal remedies have been exhausted, the debtor shall either provisionally pay the amounts concerned on the bank account designated by the accounting officer or provide a financial guarantee acceptable to the accounting officer. The guarantee shall be independent of the obligation to pay the fine or penalty payment or other penalties and shall be enforceable upon first call. It shall cover the claim as to principal and the interest due as specified in Article 83(4). The Commission shall secure the provisionally cashed amounts by having them invested in financial assets thus ensuring the security and liquidity of the monies whilst also aiming at yielding a positive return. After the exhaustion of all legal remedies and where the fine or penalty has been confirmed any of the following measures shall be taken: the provisionally collected amounts and the interest and other amounts they have yielded shall be entered into the budget in accordance with Article 83 of the Financial Regulation at the latest during the financial year following the year in which all legal remedies have been exhausted; where a financial guarantee has been lodged, the latter shall be enforced and the corresponding amounts entered in the budget; Where the amount of the fine or of the penalty has been increased by the Court, points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall apply up to the amounts of the decision of the Commission and the accounting officer shall collect the amount corresponding to the increase, which will be entered into the budget. After all legal remedies have been exhausted and where the fine or penalty has been cancelled or reduced any of the following measures shall be taken: the amounts unduly collected together with the interest yielded shall be repaid to the third party concerned. In cases where the overall return yielded for the relevant period has been negative, the nominal value of the amounts unduly collected shall be repaid; where a financial guarantee has been lodged, the latter shall be released accordingly. The authorising officer responsible may waive recovery of all or part of an established amount receivable only in the following cases: where the foreseeable cost of recovery would exceed the amount to be recovered and the waiver would not harm the image of the Union; where the amount receivable cannot be recovered in view of its age or the insolvency of the debtor; where recovery is inconsistent with the principle of proportionality. In the case referred to in point (c) of paragraph 1, the authorising officer responsible shall act in accordance with predetermined procedures established within each institution and shall apply the following criteria which are compulsory and applicable in all circumstances: the facts, having regard to the gravity of the irregularity giving rise to the establishment of the amount receivable (fraud, repeat offence, intent, diligence, good faith, manifest error); the impact that waiving recovery would have on the operation of the Union and its financial interests (amount involved, risk of setting a precedent, undermining of the authority of the law). Depending on the circumstances of the case, the authorising officer responsible may also have to take the following additional criteria into account: any distortion of competition that would be caused by the waiving of recovery; the economic and social damage that would be caused were the debt to be recovered in full. The waiver decision referred to in Article 80(2) of the Financial Regulation shall be substantiated and shall refer to the diligence exercised to secure recovery and the points of law and fact on which the waiver is based. The authorising officer responsible shall waive recovery in accordance with Article 84. The waiving of recovery of an established amount receivable may not be delegated by the institution in any of the following cases: where the amount to be waived is EUR 1000000 or more; where the amount to be waived is EUR 100000 or more, where this represents 25 % or more of the established amount receivable. Beneath the thresholds set out in the first subparagraph, each institution shall lay down in its internal rules the conditions and procedure for delegating the power to waive recovery of an established debt. Each institution shall send to the European Parliament and Council each year a report on the waivers referred to in paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article involving EUR 100000 or more. In the case of the Commission, that report shall be annexed to the summary of the annual activity reports referred to in Article 66(9) of the Financial Regulation. In the event of a mistake, the authorising officer responsible shall cancel totally or partially the established amount receivable in accordance with Articles 82 and 84 and include adequate reasons. Each institution shall lay down in its internal rules the conditions and procedure for delegating the power to cancel an established amount receivable. The limitation period for entitlements of the Union in respect of third parties shall begin to run on the expiry of the deadline communicated to the debtor in the debit note as specified in Article 80(3)(b). The limitation period for entitlements of third parties in respect of the Union shall begin to run on the date on which the payment of the third party’s entitlement is due according to the corresponding legal commitment. The limitation period for entitlements of the Union in respect of third parties shall be interrupted by any act of an institution, or a Member State acting at the request of an institution, notified to the third party and aiming at recovering the debt. The limitation period for entitlements of third parties in respect of the Union shall be interrupted by any act notified to the Union by its creditors or on behalf of its creditors aiming at recovering the debt. A new limitation period of five years shall begin to run on the day following the interruptions referred to in paragraph 2. Any legal action relating to an amount receivable as referred to in paragraph 1, including actions brought before a court which later declares itself not to have jurisdiction, shall interrupt the limitation period. The new limitation period of five years shall not begin until a judgment having the force of res judicata is given or there is an extrajudicial settlement between the same parties on the same action. Where the accounting officer allows the debtor additional time for payment in accordance with Article 89, this shall be considered as an interruption of the limitation period. The new limitation period of five years shall begin to run on the day following the expiry of the extended time for payment. Entitlements shall not be recovered after the expiry of the limitation period, as established in paragraphs 1 to 5.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.